Thursday, 27 March 1997

Sunday Roast, March 27, 1997

Girls dressin' up as
blokes has a totally different effect from blokes in drag.

Somehow it is easier to take them seriously, to listen. It
is not an instant joke and so it works as a vehicle for theatre not just as a
drag show.

Sue Ingleton's play, The Sunday Roast performed with
Jennifer Ludlum, is simply two old geezers in suits and aprons cooking a Sunday
roast and exchanging reminiscences. It is set in fifties Melbourne and these
two are definitely men of their time and place. They prattle about beer and
Californian Poppy, Gillette ladies and Craven A.

They play two-up rib each other about being old bachelors
left on the shelf then consider themselves lucky because women are fickle.
Grace Kelly is their pin-up. Black pepper is a nouveau culinary condiment.

Ingleton created this script during 1996 in the dressing
rooms of the M.T.C. production of Patrick White's A Cheery Soul.Mr. Bleeker and Mr. Furze are characters from
White's dark comic play and here they have a chance to strut their stuff for an
hour.

Mr. Bleeker and Mr. Furze are characters from White's dark
comic play and here they have a chance to strut their stuff for an hour.

Ingleton and Ludlum appear to be having a ball playing the
two bachelors cogitating and espousing their rum theories. Ingleton's fella is
drawn in detail. She chews her lip and tucks her head into her neck like an old
tortoise while Ludlum is a lighter, less wizened chappie.

It is a light clown
piece with a witty edge and a charming post-war feel to remind everybody of
their grandads.